What Simple Living means to me?

**This post is in connection with my entry on Voluntary Simplicity.

Simple living is very subjective, simplicity for you may mean still extravagant for me, and vice versa.

So for this purpose, I will define what I mean when I say I am living a simple life.

how I wish these are mine ;)

I like shoes and bags more than I like clothes, well, I do love buying clothes but I find it easier to look for bags and shoes than to look for clothes that I will really like and end up buying. At present, I have 40 pairs of shoes, yes, 40(I myself was a bit shocked after I counted them), mostly flat, really soft ballet type of shoes, out of 40, around 10 are good as new (high-heeled ones) or worn only once, another 10-15 are seldomly used, but the rest are used up... And I noticed that out of 40, I only use on a regular basis only 4 or 5 of them. And because of this, it was easier for me to decide and commit not to buy shoes for a long time. This "reality" is also applicable with my bags, I have enough of them, actually more than enough, but I also end up using only 3 or 4 bags on a regular basis.

In case of my clothes, I don't have much because after some time, I give them away to my sister so my clothes don't accumulate. So simple living means using and staying happy with my current collection of SB&Cs (shoes, bags and clothes:)). [1]

After taking out my top 3 weaknesses [as part of my "necessities"], I will now have to decide what really are my true necessities.

Knowing and sticking on your needs make it easier to live a simple life because you know exactly where to spend your hard-earned money without feeling guilty. After some deep thought and evaluation, I have slimmed down my personal necessities, so a very small portion of my salary will be spent only for food, transportation and occasional leisure (bonding time with loved ones and friends by eating out and watching movies). [2]

Another meaning of simple living for me is living within the 63% of my salary, and the rest goes to savings and tithing, this is achievable under normal circumstances wherein no unexpected/unbudgeted expenses will suddenly show up. [3]

Fourth is everytime I will have this urge to go to the mall alone, not to buy SBCs, but to either watch a movie, eat or, most of the time, to buy books, I will remind myself that I still have lots of unread books at home and lots of mp3s to listen to (Bo Sanchez' talks) so I have better ways to spend my time rather than going to the mall. [4]

Living a simple life is focusing on what truly matters, such as spending time with loved ones and friends, enjoying simple pleasures in life (nature, music, books, etc.), traveling once in awhile, being happy and contented with what you already have and most especially of who you are. [5]

For now, aside from reading books, blogging and listening to inspirational talks(soon I will also listen to Spanish audio lessons), my source of happiness and my remaining vice is eating out with my loved ones and watching movies with them.

And that's how I live my simple yet comfortable life.

***
Just to assure you my dear friends, I am "still" normal. ;) Though I have vowed to live a simple life, that does not keep me from still wanting 3 specific LV bags (just in case you win the lottery and you are feeling generous to give me a "balato" you know what I want ;)), SC Bag Monogram (or Monogram Idylle Speedy 30 with strap in Sepia), Montorgueil GM and Sologne,  ;) Dreaming is free and I would love to savor it to the fullest! ;)